Parental Depression and Childhood Development

RUNNING HEAD1Parental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentWonyean GayeExcelsior CollegeParental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentAbstractParental depression negatively affect parents and is associated with poor health and cognitivedevelopmental of children of all ages. Women are most likely to be depressed than men with 810 % of women experiencing mild to severe feelings of sadness, distress, withdrawal that maycontinue to months if not years (Berk 2014,P 186). Depressed mothers will have poor parentingskills and will behave in a negative manner to their children. The initial caused of parentaldepression is usually unknown but it sometimes begins with family life after child birth,dissatisfaction in marriage, limited social support, poverty especially in SES with low socialclass, low maternal education, job related stressor and divorce. All of the above factors havesignificant negative impact on the growth and development of children of all ages and willportray negative energy such as aggressiveness, disruptive behavior and sometimes antisocialbehavior. In order to help both parents with depressions and prevents the effects of depressionfrom parents to kids, there should be a collective efforts of health care provider, family membersand communities. The health care provider should be able to detect parental depression as earlyas possible and prompt actions such as counseling and medical needs be addressed. Withchildren who do not have that closed bond with either or both parents, closed family memberssuch as grandparents, aunts, uncles or teacher can help the child promote resilience withdepressed parents ( Masten and Reed 20002).Causes of Parental DepressionParental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentThe initial cause of parental depression in both mother and father is unknown. However, parentaldepressions have been attributed to family life after child birth, divorce, dissatisfaction inmarriage, job related stress, hormonal changes etc. It is mostly seen in women than men with thechanges in hormone with elevated cortisol stress hormone after child birth (Field,1998). Usuallythe father will do most of the house work after the birth of a child. Most often either of or bothparents will get 6 weeks of maternity leave which is not enough with the extra work load incaring for the new born baby. As such, the stress level of both parents increase with the motherbeing worse than the father. The increased stress level has been linked to increased anxiety in themother, depression with a sense of role overload that is, choosing between work and family tasksand negative interactions with the baby. Moreover, with parent going through divorce, propercare and attention will not be place on the child and as such, greatly affects his or herdevelopment. Parents how stress with job related issues is and is not satisfy with his her marriageprobably due to financial issues will pay less attention to the wellbeing of the child. It is alsoglaring that children born of SES are more prone to the effects of parental depression compare totheir counterpart. Reason being SES parents are of low income jobs, live in poorer communitywithout good community services (daycare centers) with the lack of good health insurance thatwill help alleviate some of the stress on both parents.Effects of Parental Depression in ParentsParental depression affects both men and women in different ways depending on singleparenthood or two parenthood. Single parents are most likely to be depressed than two parentParental Depression and Childhood Developmentfamily. According to analyses of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in 2013, 11percent of single parents show signs and symptoms of depression compare five percent ofdepressed two parent family. Mothers are mostly affected than signs and symptoms than men.Women are mostly affected due to hormonal changes in their body after child birth as seen inpostpartum depression. At the initial onset of maternal depression, most mothers with depressionwill keep silence in fear of being label as crazy or weak. Some may focus on the wellbeing oftheir family and usually forget to look after themselves. Maternal depression usually manifestitself in child bearing women usually after the first month of child birth. It usually starts withconfusion, mood swing, anxiety, loss of appetite fatigue and progress to excessive guilt andsuicidal thought. Moreover, as depression persist, mother turn to pay less attention andresponsiveness to the need and safety of their children. Some will endanger the safety of theirchildren by refusing or forgetting to use car seat or cover hot stove from the present of children.Furthermore, depressed mother will their child negatively and use hostile behavior andinconsistent discipline such as corporal punishment and force (Format et al .,2007).The use offorce and corporal form of punishment will lead to mood change, withdrawal, aggressive andimpulsive behavior that will greatly affect the cognitive development of the child.According to (Madsen & Juhl,2007), parental depression is less recognized in men thanwomen. In addition, about 3-5 percent of fathers report signs and symptoms of depression afterchild birth compare to their female counter part at 10 percent. Paternal depression are usually dueto increased work load after the birth of the child. After the birth of their new born, most of thecaring in the first few days to weeks is done by the father. With the birth of the new born meansincreased extra activities which can sometimes be overwhelming for the father. Father may lesslikely engaged with the wellbeing of the child. The father will react to the increase stress byParental Depression and Childhood Developmentshowing aggregation in parenting. Moreover, even with the six weeks of maternal or paternalleave that most employer give to their employee is not enough to help with the increase workload. Paternal depression like maternal depression, usually affect child behavior especially boyswho will presents with defiance, aggression and over activity (Ramchadani et al., 2008).Children with both parents going through depression will show worst outcome of cognitivedevelopment compare to child who one of the parent is affected. Moreover, Non-depressed dadwill positively get involved in parenting and will help moderate the risk of developing problembehavior in the child.Effects of Parental Depression on Child DevelopmentChildren of all ages are affected by the effects of parental depression. Children of depressedparents are most likely to have behavioral issues, academic difficulties and health problems.Maternal depression have been linked to have delay in the cognitive development of childrenwith long term severe maternal depression being shown as an adverse consequences on childbehavior. Few weeks after birth, those infants born of depressed mother will sleep poorly. Theywill less attentive to their surrounding and have elevated level of stress induced hormones ( Field1998). As cognitive development is greatly influenced and improved when children explore theirenvironment, less or reduced attentiveness to their surrounding will greatly affect their cognitivedevelopment. Moreover, the more extreme level of depression and increased stressor in bothparents especially the mother, the more difficult child-parent relationships will be. Among SESfamily, children of depressed mother are most likely to have low average in test compare to theirage mates (ChildTrend.org 16). Boys are sensitive to the effects of parental depression than girls,in facts according to ( Sharp et al 23), only boys showed decrease on standardized tests.Parental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentFurthermore, children of depressed parents are at a high risk of developing anxiety and conductdisorder. Studies by (Lessene el al 35) shows that there is strong link between ADHD in childrenand maternal mental health. Adolescence with depressed parents will most often suffer frompsychosocial maladjustment. They will experience higher rate of affective disorder thanadolescent of Non affective psychiatric control parents. Chi
ldren of depressed parents will inherita tendency of emotional and behavior problems but quality parenting is a major factor in theiradjustment.Management of Parental DepressionThe management of parental depression is aim at preventing the effects of depression fromaffecting cognitive development in children. Early detection and prompt treatment is paramount.This should pharmacotherapy, social supports as well as family supports with the help of federalgovernment.The health care provider should balance the wellbeing of the mother with the wellbeing andsafety of the child when considering initiating antidepressants. All medication, alcohol, tobaccoor herb use by depressed mother should be properly documented and discontinue to prevent orreduce infant exposure. Moreover, depressed mother who wants to breast feed their child shouldbe educated about the importance of breast feeding ad breast feeding will create the mother –child bonding.Social supports and other therapy should be initiated to help depressed parent. Social supportand home visiting have been very important in improving the mother’s moods and attention aswell as their new born. Furthermore, the social intervention will help alter the mother state ofParental Depression and Childhood Developmentmood state there by reducing the negative perception about her baby. This will also help improvemother-infant interactions. The availability of community resources such as good school,libraries, convenient and affordable health care and social services with recreation centers canhelp reduce some of the stress on the parent. For example, the availability of a good andconvenient Day care center where parent can take their child while they go to work.Family centered intervention should be aim at focusing on educating parents and older kidsabout depression with the hope of developing resiliency that will be beneficial to all parties..Educating parents about the primitive definition of parental depression, how does depressionmanifest itself in parents and children with explanation of probable causes of parental depressionand how parental depression can negatively impact the growth and development of children willhelp improve the level of communication from parents to children and better understand thechild’s parent affective illness. In addition, family is one of the most consistent asset of resilientchildren. Children will develop more attractive bond as a result of parental warmth and attention(Gulolta 2008). With those who do not have that closed relationship with either of theirdepressed parents, a grandparent, aunty, uncle or even a closed school teacher can help promoteresilience( Masten & Reed 2002) Warm relationship with closed relative such as grandparents,aunt or teacher can help safeguard children’s development (Mezulis, Hyde, & Clark 2004).Lastly, according to ChildTrends.org, it is National goal initiative by the Federal government ofthe United States through it Healthy People 2020 initiatives to decrease the percentage of adultwho experience a major depressive episode from 6.8 percent in 2008 to 6.1 in 2008 to 6 percentin 2020. Moreover, there will be an increased in the percentage of adult who receive medicaltreatments from 68.3 percent in 2008 to 75.1% in 2020. Furthermore depression screening willbe done by every health care provider.Parental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentConclusionParental depression occurs in both men and women with the later mostly being affected.Single SES parent family are at a greater risk than two parent family. Children of depressedparents are at greater risk of having developmental problems. They are at risk of having troublewith attachment, difficulties in cognitive functioning and social interaction. Moreover, will havetrouble interacting with peers, closed family members and parents. Children that are exposed toparental depression are at risk of developing affective disorder, anxiety and aggressiveness. Inaddition, children with ADHD and learning disabilities have been attributed to being exposed toparental depression. In order to prevent or reduce the cause and effect of parental depression inparents and children, factors that predisposed them should be address. Risk factors such aspoverty, dissatisfaction in marriage, work and family related stress should be addressed.Furthermore, the sooner parental depression is established and adequate management initial willalso help reduce the effects of depression on child development. The management plan should bea collective of everyone associated with the affected family. The treatment plan should includeantidepressants, social supports and family therapy aim at preventing depression from affectingthe cognitive development of children. It is my hope that with the involvement of health careprovider, family, social worker, community resources and teacher, the Federal government willbe able to meet its target goal of reducing the percentage of adult with major depressive episodefrom 6.8 percent to 6.1 percent in 2020.Parental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentParental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentParental Depression and Childhood DevelopmentParental Depression and Childhood Development